Review of Black Rock Shooter

Note: It probably makes sense to watch the OVA version first because it will be referenced a lot in this review. After finishing the OVA, one may waddle over to the TV series in a state of confusion, mainly due to the OVA’s limitations with time rather than not being able to understand its symbolism. Given that their expectations are now more appropriately set, it could now possibly be twisted by the state of confusion regarding the OVA version. Black Rock Shooter is a very misleading title considering most of it was a school drama. This anime has little to do with one of the threefirms that own the United States or Thomas Matthew Crooks himself. This does not imply that the title and the subsequent expectations formed based on it which were met are automatically good and vice versa. The drama, in all aspects in this anime, to be at least somewhat entertaining considering the girls' drama was an over exaggerated mess. The action had some drama tied to it as well, which was a big improvement to the OVA which had less brutal fight scenes and was basically absent of dialogue. Most of the enjoyment stemmed from this anime depends on the background of the viewer, the characters could either be relatable or come across as an emotional wreck. The drama high school girls experience would be completely alien to someone who is their polar opposite. It made me rethink what kind of expectations to set when faced with unfamiliarity.

OK, focusing on the drama, since it better fits the theme of Black Rock Shooter than what is shown through its promotional art. Large parts of the story are not really engaging to be honest, most of it being set in the “real” world. Much of the attention is placed on stuff that, if altered, would not change this anime much. There were two metaphors that I received differently, one relating to colors and the other concerning the parallel world. The metaphor with the colors felt like it was added for the purpose of squeezing as much as they could into this anime, since the OVA was mostly for looks. Symbolism coming off as cheap is not much of an issue if it was mostly tied to the art instead of trying to convey some deep meaning. Black Rock Shooter is different in this regard, since the meaningless symbolism at least tried to convey something meaningful. There are a few more minor details that felt unnecessary as well, however most of is nit-picky and mostly trends towards the characters rather than the story. The parallel world metaphor is way more interesting because of the added drama to it. If their main selves didn’t go through enough drama, the parallel world exists as the sort of characterization of the girls’ personality traits (ex. one of the characters is Strength). Much like the OVA, most of the conflict is fought over Yomi’s friendship. The parallel world is a big positive of this anime because it allows for the character’s actions to be more understood to someone who views the girls as nonsensical at times.

The characters are both the best and worst part of this anime. For instance, some of the characters in the real world make no sense and do not act in a realistic matter. A lot of it ties into forced melodrama, but there are other reasons that can be found when they aren’t are overdramatic. The parents and teachers usually get angry at the kids for no reason and unreasonably take their anger out on them. One of the kids, Kagari is another good example of inconsistency, since she comes across as a stereotypically insane person who just so happens to be a brat. She could be described as “ring around the rosie” girl turned psych-ward patient. While this is entertaining, her bratty behavior is quite irritating when it comes to her being possessive. Her more-so childish attitude towards Mato was probably the most memorable aspect of her character. The other worldly characters were fine when they weren’t excessively emotional, otherwise they were quite boring.

Much of the artwork and scenery is of similar vein compared to the OVA. Both of the worlds aesthetic wise could be considered as polar opposites. The real world used brighter and more softer colors which were quite eye hurting at times. The design of this world was quite basic but probably expected of a school setting. However there were definitely a few scenes that were nice, such as the gloomy atmosphere of the night and the colorful sunset, which stood out from the rather dull school environment. The hollow world was much more visually appealing, probably because its features from the real world were basically amped up. The gothic architecture and the checkerboard pattern in particular was visually appealing. The splash of color is nice as well, it had rich colors instead of being overly soft and eyehurting. The animation is more fluid in the TV series than the OVA, much of its choppiness was dropped to animate the fights. The visual effects and the voice acting that came with it were a great addition to it. Its hollow world being showcased more makes a lot more sense once the real world’s drawbacks are mentioned.

Yeah it has its flaws, and while it wasn’t bad there were significant portions of it that dragged on for a bit. The real world was a rather boring watch, but the other selves in the hollow world was where Black Rock Shooter did best. This anime would be a great recommendation to people who either relate to or enjoy over dramatic angsty teenage girl drama. It may also appeal to people who just want to see goth girls engage in some more drama and fight to shed a bit of blood. Personally, I had a preference for the latter.